Label: Screwgun Records, 2020
Personnel - Tim Berne: alto and baritone saxophones; David Torn: guitars, loops, live samplings; Ches Smith: drums, electronics.
Containing three exciting tracks, Congratulations to You is the follow up to the acclaimed eponymous debut album of Sun of Goldfinger, the probing trio of saxophonist Tim Berne, guitarist David Torn and drummer Ches Smith. The musicians’ ability to conjure atmosphere while manipulating time and space is magical, and no contemporary jazz lover should be indifferent to the immensity and ruggedness of their sounds. The first two pieces were culled from their very first performance in Brooklyn in 2010, while the concluding title track was captured at the Vortex Club in London.
“Bat Tears” is not only a showcase for Berne’s echoing motifs and drifts on the alto - highly substantiated by Torn’s sampling and looping effects - but also to his grooving and popping baritone playing. The dance-like motion produced has the assistance of Torn’s rock-infested soloing and Smith’s krautrock-inspired rhythms. This initially raw and non-gratuitous chaotic incursion precedes a quieter second half, where uncompromising guitar noodling, loops and persistently ululating saxophone cries become trapped in a magnetic suspended form.
At more than 28-minutes, “Coco Tangle” is the longest ride on the album, carrying with it the possibility of dialogue and always providing us with something pleasurable to be discovered as the artists centralize their creative energies. The opening section brings out the fire within these artists, whose free expressions start to take a solid shape with the time. At some point, we have a cackling saxophone triggering digitally processed rhythmic figures, flickering flashes of powerful wah-wah guitar, and tremendous responses from Smith, who adds color and detail to every move - his actions can range from syncopated hip-hop-ish grooves to instinctive tribalistic flows to rock-infused rhythms. After delving into abstraction - a passage with some psychedelia in the mix - the trio outlines another kinetic, groove-centered concoction made of intense baritone sounds, galvanizing guitar procedures, and humanly ‘programmed’ trap-set maneuvers.
“Congratulations to You” is firstly presented as a partially blurred frame with inclinations toward experimental electronica before suddenly turn into a perfectly danceable number driven by a sparkling hip-hop beat. It reaches the climax when the trio breaks forth into a roar of sound.
Mastering texture, groove and free improv, Berne, Torn and Smith bring out the strengths in one another, and their unquestionable chemistry is on display from the very first track. Hail, Sun of Goldfinger!
Grade A
Favorite Tracks:
01 - Bat Tears ► 02 - Coco Tangle